As the lights dimmed and the French accordion music faded, audiences were swept away on a two-and-a-half hour ride through the marvelously mad world of The Madwoman of Chaillot.
A Taylor University Theatre production, The Madwoman of Chaillot, opened on Friday, Nov. 1 in Mitchell Theater for a series of six shows in two consecutive weekends: Nov. 1-3 and Nov. 7-9.
The play tells the story of Countess Aurelia of Chaillot, a Parisian native who is renowned for her kindness as well as her eccentricity. When she stumbles upon a plot by greedy businessmen to destroy Paris by drilling for oil, she forms a plan to save her beloved city and the beauty it contains.
The stage design and set brought the colorful world of Countess Aurelia into Taylor’s Mitchell Theater. In the first act, viewers were greeted by the sight of a traditional French cafe and restaurant in the midst of a cobblestone town square. During the intermission, a flurry of cast members and backstage workers transformed the stage into the Countess’s cellar, filled with her eclectic collection of furniture, decorations and knick-knacks.
Connor Reagan, the designer for the production, said he drew his vision for the set from Van Gogh’s oil paintings. The Madwoman of Chaillot takes place in an alternate reality of 1940’s France, where Paris is facing destruction from mercenary oilmen rather than Nazis. Wanting to reflect the more fantastical nature of the play, he took an impressionistic approach to the stage design.
“(We’re) trying to make everything seem a little bit off or seem a little bit wrong,” Reagan explained. "...The world that they're living in is not what they're used to, and so it (shouldn’t look like) what we're used to.”
The period costumes and props also brought the scenes and characters to life—from the bright dresses and feathered hats to the well-trimmed mustaches and realistic cigars. All components helped the audience step into the world of Chaillot.
Auditions for the play were held in early September, with rehearsals beginning mid-September. Ris Bland, a senior theater major, was cast as the lead role, Countess Aurelia, and also committed to working in the production’s sound design.
The first week of rehearsals, the cast worked through an acting methodology called Viewpoints.
The method brings cohesion to the play’s larger 23-person ensemble, creating a dynamic sense of community that has translated to the audience, Bland said.
The Madwoman of Chaillot challenged Bland as she balanced her roles as lead actress and sound designer. Switching from acting to production mode in a matter of minutes was difficult, but she appreciated how being on both sides of the stage drew her deeper into both of her roles.
“I just have the opportunity to know the show inside and out,” she explained. “So that feeds my work.”
Becoming Countess Aurelia was a bit of a process, Bland said. To step into the role, she wore heels and a corset to every rehearsal. She also spent many hours working on a French accent.
As Bland fleshed out her role, she grew to admire the character’s individuality and tenacity to fight for what she loves.
Ronnie Jackson, a fifth-year senior, has been serving as the assistant to the director in the production. Her role is to research the play’s background and observe the rehearsals, helping the director and the actors perform to the best of their ability.
Jackson thought the journey of making the play was “beautiful.” Though she found the process a bit mysterious at times, she appreciated the director’s ability to create an amazing end product.
Bland said she enjoyed the richness and depth of the play as a whole.
“I'm a sucker for full circle moments, for connections between the beginning and the end, between foil characters that are reflections of each other,” she said. “And this play just hits that right on the dot.”
Jackson appreciated the humorous aspects of the play. Though it contains serious themes, The Madwoman of Chaillot also contains joy and hilarity, a mixture of emotions that she feels represents the human experience.
Under all of the sets, costumes, acting and comedy are some deep themes. The play addresses topics such as materialism, conformity and utilitarianism, presenting a compelling case for the value of truth, goodness and beauty.
Bland was both touched and inspired by the show’s emphasis on restoring beauty, especially as a senior who is graduating from Taylor’s theater program in the coming year.
“Even though we have to leave some things behind, the beauty that was doesn't cease to exist,” she said. “Beauty continues because it's from God, and so we take care of beauty and goodness and truth. And we know that after we set it down, someone else can take it up.”
Bland hoped audiences left the theater with a “fiercely intense gratefulness” for God’s good blessings and a sense of empowerment to reach that level of gratitude.
“(The Madwoman of Chaillot) kind of woke me up,” she said. “So I hope if people need to be woken up, they're woken up. If they need to be encouraged, they're encouraged. If they need to be reminded, they're reminded. But the play speaks for itself.”
